Giant Nutella Jar Isn’t A Store Prop, It’s A Crappy Deal

What would you do with five kilograms (11 pounds) of the glorious choco-hazelnut spread Nutella? Jeff assumed that this isn’t even a reasonable question, because the giant jar at his local grocery store couldn’t possibly be real. Right? Nope. It’s real, it’s full of Nutella, and it costs sixty bucks.

Naturally, once he realized that the mega-jar was a real product for sale and not just a prop, he had to calculate the price per ounce for such a thing. Maybe you use a lot of Nutella and want the most cost-effective way to get huge quantities of the stuff into your roadside crepe stand.

Like with many far more normal bulk deals available in stores, though, buying more Nutella gets you a worse deal. It’s the fuzzy math phenomenon writ large. Really large. 11 pounds.

Jeff calculated that the bulk purchase was a better deal at the store’s regular price, but not when the small jars are on sale. They’re on sale now. Jeff laid out the math on his blog:

At $4.40 for 371 grams, you’ll get 5Kg for $59.30, 69 cents cheaper!

But this grocery is running a deal right now: 2 small jars for $7!

So at $7 for 742 grams (2*371 grams), 5Kg will cost $47.17, for a savings of almost $13. In other words, the bigger tub is actually marked up more than 25% from the smaller.

For that markup, you get the distinction of having a 5-kilogram Nutella tub in your home. It’s a tradeoff, really.